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To Fiji

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I have been totally useless at keeping this blog up to date; so once again it is catch up time.

The voyage from Tahiti to Fiji continued much as it was on my last update; fairly fast and boisterous. We caught a nice Mahi Mahi that we cooked as steaks fresh from the cutting board, canned what we could fit into our spare canning jars and made escabeche with the rest.

Mahi Mahi for dinner

Mahi mahi for dinner

One of the downsides of not having a fridge is that we are forced to process our catch quickly so within about four hours of being caught that fish was either being digested, cooling in jars after coming out of the pressure canner or gently pickling as escabeche. Read more ›


Time out in Cape Town

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Cape Town from Blouberg Strand

Cape Town from Blouberg Strand

A couple of pleasant but busy weeks in Tahiti saw Morgane cleaned, maintained, and prepared to be left alone on the hard at the Tahiti Nautic Center . Morgane was very professionally hauled out and parked up by Yvan and his crew. Read more ›


Tahiti – paradise, not; and expensive to boot.

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17:43.94S 149:19.65W

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Tahiti-iti at dawn

Hao was a very pleasant stop but soon it was time to get moving again. We had been continuously watching the weather forecasts looking for a good window to move on to the next destination but as previously mentioned the forecasts in this part of the world seem as much use as a chocolate fireguard (especially in these temperatures). Read more ›


The Dangerous Islands

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18:04.50S 140:56.60W

Hao_Landfall by .

Landfall, Hao – Can you see it?

The Tuamotus have been known as the “Dangerous Archipelago” in the past due to their very low aspect and poor charts. The highest point on Hao is recorded as being only 3m above sea level. The coconut palms grow to about 15m. The atolls are difficult enough to spot during the day with good visibility and at night virtually impossible. Read more ›


Living off the land in the Gambier Islands

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23:06.75S 134:57.98W

breadfruit on the tree

Breadfruit on the tree

Plenty of food lives on, grows on or swims around these islands. A good thing too as food in the shops is seriously expensive apart from the things with red price tags which are considered staples and are subsidised by the government; rice, flour, baguettes, etc.. Read more ›


What will this tropical weather do?

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23:09.61S 135:02.32W

I mentioned before the fact that we had been struggling to get our heads around tropical weather and its forecasting. Last weekend had not just us but every boat in the area studying the weather situation very closely. A tropical depression was coming right over us (TD18F was its label) and as it was our first experience of one we were not sure what to expect.
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Does it rain in Paradise?

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23:06.75S 134:57.98W

SunriseAukena by .

Sunrise over Aukena with rain clouds brewing

Yes it does! The last week has been very wet but only slightly cooler than the previous couple of weeks. We have been swimming every day but that is about all our outdoor activities have been limited to Read more ›


An invasion of Falklands registered yachts

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23:09.02S 135:03.30W

Peregrine Morgane Sunset by .

Peregrine and Morgane anchored in Onemea Bay

We now have two cruising yachts from the Falklands in the Gambier Islands. This is probably a first outside of the Falklands and what were the old Falkland Islands Dependencies of South Georgia, the various British sub-Antarctic Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. Leiv Poncet arrived aboard his boat “Peregrine” on a solo voyage heading for Alaska. Read more ›


Chilling in the heat of the Gambiers & the Mission!

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23:06.798S 134:58.002W

Easter Sunday Mass in Saint Michel's

Easter Sunday Mass in Saint Michel’s

Sunday and we were in church and it wasn’t even a wedding or a funeral! We went to Easter Sunday mass to celebrate with more or less the whole Island. There were about 300 people in church at the beginning of the service. People seemed to trickle out as their favourite part of the service was reached or they got to hot or suddenly remembered the Sunday roast was in the oven or …. Read more ›


Landfall; Rikitea, Mangareva, Gambier Islands

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23:06.79S 134:58.01W

A pearl farm in Rikitea, Mangareva, Gambier Islands

A pearl farm in Rikitea, Mangareva, Gambier Islands

We have finally arrived somewhere that has a proper anchorage, somewhere where we can anchor in still waters, and somewhere that we can set foot on dirt. We had been 32 days at sea (including one night in that very uncomfortable anchorage at Easter Island). Read more ›


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